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Keys to Successful Business and Life
Success Key #9: Bounce Back from Failure

"If we ever decide to compare knees, you're going to find that I have more scars than anyone in the room. That's because I have fallen down and gotten up so many times in my life." (1)  (Mary Kay Ash - Founder of the Fortune 500 company, Mary Kay Cosmetics)

Can you spot a true success? Let's find out with a quick test:

Success or Failure?

Success or Failure? #1 Wanted to build cars, but failed and ran out of money five times. People told him he was wasting his time.

Success or Failure? #2 As a 9-year-old, she was put on the "stupid row," after missing 10 out of 10 on a Math test. As an insecure Middle School student, she described herself as "quiet, freckly, short-sighted, and rubbish at sports." After high school, she failed at a series of secretarial jobs, being easily bored and hopelessly disorganized. In her own estimation, "I...proved to be the worst secretary ever." 

Success or Failure? #3 Nearly got thrown out of college and accidentally blew up a General Electric factory his third year on the job. 

What if you'd been one of these people? Would you have given up? 

And Now for the Rest of These Stories...

#1 - Failure and Success. Henry Ford (his Model T pictured at right) didn't give up, finally succeeding with establishing Ford Motor Company. (2)

#2 - Failure and Success.  Her real love was writing, having written stories since she was a child. But her fears and insecurities kept her from mailing her stories to any publishers.  She was so poor, that she couldn't even afford a used typewriter, so she wrote long-hand on scraps of paper. Finally, in her late 20's, she mustered up the courage to mail out a manuscript. At first, all she received was a string of rejections from publishers, who explained that her work was "too long, too slow, or two literary." More failure. But she endured the rejections until finally a publisher accepted her, taking on the first of J.K. Rowling's wildly successful Harry Potter books. (3)

#3 - Failure and Success.  Jack Welch would learn from his mistakes and eventually be asked to lead General Electric, one of the largest businesses in the world, becoming one of the most highly respected business leaders of the 20th Century. (4)

What's in it for Me?

From our wide reading, these people aren't the exception. They're typical of great successes. It's hard to distinguish the ultimate successes and failures early in life. Those who do succeed, generally do it after learning from repeated failures. I guess you could say that:

The road to success is usually paved with failures.

Action Points

End Notes

1. Mary Kay Ash, by Mary Kay Ash (HarperPerennial, 1994), p. 12. 
2. Daily Positives, by Edward P. Fiszer (Cameo Publications, Hilton Head, South Carolina), p. 18. 
3. J.K. Rowling, by Marc Shapiro (St. Martin's Griffin, New York), pp. 32, 35, 41, 68, 74.
4. Jack: Straight From the Gut, by Jack Welch (Warner Business Books, New York), pp. 27-29.
5. Picture of Model T found in Wikipedia, considered public domain.